Steve Bruce has revealed that Newcastle United defender Ciaran Clark is an injury doubt for their trip to Aston Villa on Monday evening.
The Magpies’ boss shared that Florian Lejeune is ready to return to action after playing in two under 23’s fixtures in his return to fitness from his injury that was picked up last season.
Bruce also confirmed, as shared by journalist Keith Downie, that Fabian Schar has returned to training after missing a handful of Premier League games, and could feature at Villa Park.
Ciaran Clark an injury doubt for Newcastle at Villa on Monday. Sounds like Florian Lejeune is ready to come straight back into the side, though. Fab Schär is also back in full training and could play #NUFC
— Keith Downie (@SkySports_Keith) November 21, 2019
Clark could miss the game against his former side, after coming on at half time in the Republic of Ireland’s 1-1 draw against Denmark on Monday evening.
OPINION
The beauty of the options available to Bruce at Newcastle means that any defensive setbacks usually aren’t too big of a blow for him to handle. When it was Schar who was taken off injured, Clark stepped forward and filled the void perfectly, and now it could be time for them to just switch back. It looks like Lejeune is now ready to fully cement a spot in the matchday squad too, and that is a massive boost to the Magpies, who are also without captain Jamaal Lascelles until January. It appears to be one in one out at the minute at St James’ Park, and although Bruce would want more stability in his team selection, he will be delighted to have a constant stream of players ready to step in and cover his injured players. Clark would count himself unlucky to be forced out, having scored twice in the last two wins for the Magpies, as well as averaging 5.4 clearances per game according to WhoScored, making him a brick wall at the back for Newcastle.
